Shiloh Rifle Forums

I was wondering if anybody thought about using a more modern cartridge for shooting BP IN , the 50/70 is a 1 and 3/4 in, which may not have quite enough and the 50/90 is 2 and 1/2 . how about the 50 Alaskan at 2.1 inches its about right in the middle. just thinking ?

My understanding is Shiloh has a 50 x 2" available which was an original chambering for Sharps for a short time. There are several threads on that subject.

I went through this decision process a few years ago. Having decided on a .50 Sharps, I then agonized for months over which .50 to get. At the time I thought it might be the only Sharps I would buy (what was I thinking, lol?) so I wanted to make the best choice for my purposes. Those being mainly recreational, non-competitive target shooting and occasional hunting. I ruled out .50 2-1/2” as “too much gun” for me but then still couldn’t decide on 1-3/4” or 2” and even thought about the .50 Alaskan chambering as well. In the end I went with .50-70 and am very pleased with that choice. It is easy to load for, pleasant to shoot and will take most non-dangerous big game cleanly. It’s also a lot of fun at the target range and definitely gets folks talking when they see the clouds of smoke. I can let novices shoot it without worrying about the recoil factor.

I just ordered Shiloh #3 and it’s going to be .50-70 same as the first two. This one will be set up for shooting heavy-for-caliber bullets so I can mess around and see how far I can make it shoot at the target range. If I wanted to get serious about shooting competitively there are better tools like .45-70 but for me it’s more about having fun.

In the end of course the chambering is a personal thing and much depends on what you want to do with it. I wish you the best of luck with your decision.

My first Shiloh was a #3 sporter in 50-90. I pondered long and hard before buying. It was a toss up between the 50-90 and the 45-70. I never gave the 50-70 much thought, but wish I had. Since I already had a re-barreled original Sharps 1874 in 45-70, I ordered the Shiloh in 50-90. This was all back in the late 1970s when we were re-inventing the wheel. It didn't take me very long to regret that decision. Killed on both ends!! I kept it about a year. I now have a half dozen, maybe more, 50-70s, most of which are originals, but one is a Shiloh 50-70 Infantry Rifle. One of my favorite cartridges. I'll stick with the original cartridge design using the 450 grain (Lyman 515141) bullet. That does everything I want to do. I don't compete anymore and just shoot for fun, and occasionally go hunting. I hope to experiment some this year with the 350 grain (Lyman 515139) that I use in my 56-50 Peabody and Maynard carbines.

George

Over the last 30 years or so, I never gave the .50-70 much thought. My primary hunting caliber was the .45-70. I own a .50 2 1/2 bull barrel and really enjoy shooting it, but it will wear on you shooting long strings of fire. So, I decided to get a .50-70 and try it out. I have never regretted getting it and it is one of my favorite rounds. Don't let the short case fool you, it has plenty of pass-through power and is a good killer. Plus, it's fun to shoot.
Dennis

For pure fun to load and shoot it is hard to beat the .50 - 1 7/8 and it is an excellent hunting cartridge when loaded for that purpose. I have shot mine in competition just to see and I did just ok with it, but I had a load of fun shooting it.

When I discovered that my rifle really liked paper patch bullets the fun was easily doubled! Now that's pretty much all I shoot through it, maybe now and again a few of the Lyman 515141.

You should get whichever .50 you want, but don't underestimate the .50-70 for pure fun.

mark1buffo,

I shoot a 30 twist 50-70 Shiloh #3 Sporter with standard weight 30 inch barrel, 70gr OE 3F under a 530gr greaser with one 0.012" playing card wad for 1250 fps, bullet is 1.130" long, it's a hell of a bangup load in the 50-70, great little 9.5 lb hunting rifle, i'd hunt anything in North America out to 250 yards with that load.

Nearest to 50 2.1 i have is a Turnbull '86 in 50-110 WCF, it wears a 20 twist 28 inch McGowan barrel, 700gr flat nosed greasers at 1240 fps, over OE 2F powder.

My 22 twist 50-90's are the bruisers of the bunch, 700gr gov grease groove, 720gr paper patch and 750gr flar nosed greasers at 1365-1400 fps, real eye openers ; ]

thanks for the input . the 50 x 2 in. sounds interesting, does anybody have experience shooting this ? sounds like it could be a real hammer. thanks again. Mark

If you like them all check which case is readly available and go from there.